Evaluation

Even though my portfolio shows a variety of portraits, and I have applied to the Manchester dogs home, my portfolio is aimed at getting my dream job as a photographer on a cruise ship. Although this portfolio shows a range of skills which I could apply to taking photo's of dogs, I am going for the job at Manchester dogs home so I can gain experience.

Within this project, I have come up against problems but have solved these situations. The main problem I had was with creativehive, as I couldn't get my images to show up on the slide show. Therefore I embedded a slide show which previews my flickr uploads, the photos which I was going to upload on the creativehive slide show were uploaded to flickr instead so they would show up on the flickr slideshow. All images which I have included in my portfolio are in the slide show, as these images are my best work and are images which is relevant to the type of photography that I am interested in. Although I have a flickr slide show, I felt that it was important to have my images shown on the creativehive slide show, just incase anything went wrong with the flickr code so people couldn't see it. Therefore I tweeted the owner of creativehive and told him my problem, he fixed it and I can now have my images on the slide show.

The digital profile has a brief explanation of who I am and what I do, there is also a blog entry which expands on this that people can choose to look at. It has links to all my social networks and a page on how to contact me with my email, therefore it is easy for people to get in contact with me if they need to. It also shows a variety of my images so people don't just have to look at my portfolio images, if they wanted to see more. The profile includes a picture of me and my camera so straight away people will know what I do without even readying about me, they can also see what I look like. The profile is also clean and tidy so it is not to hard to navigate around, this in my opinion is up to a professional standard.

I feel that my portfolio came out better than what I expected, I feel I have the right photos in there for the types of photography that I want to do. It also shows a range of different skills which was important for me to show off as it is aimed at getting a job on a cruise ship. I also feel that I have ordered my images correctly, as the starting image draws you in, and the ending images almost says a gentle goodbye. I have also separated similar things so it doesn't seem repetitive. The prints are all good quality and matched to the colours that I saw on my screen whilst editing. All the prints are in protective sleeves to keep them from being damaged, they also add a shine to the prints.

I feel that my CV and cover letter are professionally written and are appealing to read, especially the use of illustrations on the CV. The use of colour has also made my CV appealing to look at, this will make it stand out from the crowd therefore I may be picked for a job over other people. With the images on my CV, they are seeing some of my images before I have even showed them my portfolio, this way they can decided if they like what I have to offer. My cover letter was also professionally written with the correct placement of the addresses and names, this will show that I am professional.

Overall this project has given me a variety of new skills which I can apply to jobs outside of university and projects within university. I have set myself challenges and have surprised myself in way that I thought I couldn't have done. I have managed to create more images for my portfolio and now have a professional body of work which I can show to future opportunities.

Updated order of prints in portfolio

This is an updated version of my prints which are displayed in my portfolio:

Last meeting with Karin and Jason - 25/3/15

Today was the last meeting with Karin and Jason before the deadline, this was my chance to get some final feedback and possibly make last minute changes to my portfolio. I showed them all my images and we talked about the order that they were going to be in, they both agreed with the order so I kept that the same. I also showed them the print which I thought has no colour to it and was too dark, they both agreed so I decided to scrap the image all together, we looked at my more recent band photos for a substitute and found one that was colourful and was taken without flash. This could show my skills in event photography where I haven't used flash. They also suggested that I reprint the other band image but make it brighter in photoshop so the whites pop a little bit more.

Below are the reprinted images that I am going to print:

As it is only a few days before the deadline, I could not order anymore prints online, therefore I had to print them myself using the university's printer. This gave me the chance to monitor my prints and make sure that they had come out perfect and just how I wanted. I also matched the paper to the same paper which the other prints are so there will not be a difference. After printing, I trimmed all my prints boarders off and put them in the sleeves, my portfolio was then completed. 

Digital profile

Homepage:

A brief about me:

A blog post which shows my CV so people can see what I can do:

A blog post which has more information about me:

My contact page with clickable links: 

SWOT Analysis

Portfolio

Today my Photos arrived for my portfolio. I decided that I was going to have A3 prints, therefore my portfolio and the sleeves were going to be A3 too.

Here is a photo of the portfolio I ordered from LondonGraphics.co.uk

The portfolio is all black, including the inside of it. It also opens up like a clamshell for easy viewing. I wanted a portfolio which was black inside so marks wouldn't show up as easy as they would on white, I also think this makes the photos colours stand out a lot more.

When I ordered my prints, they arrived slightly larger than I expected and wouldn't fit into my A3 sleeves, but there are some white boarders around the edges of my prints which will need trimming off, but I don't want to trim them down too much so they look slack in the sleeves

All the prints colours came out looking great, although there was one print which I wasn't very impressed with which is the one below. The colours seem a little desaturated and the pint seems dark. I will have to fix this in photoshop and order a new print.

Resizing and scaling the images ready for printing

I have decided that my portfolio will be an A3 sized box, therefore my images are going to be A3 sized, but my images are out of proportion and not that size yet. Therefore I will have to resize and crop the images, I will also change the DPI (resolution) to 300, this should be a good resolution for A3 prints. 

As you can see, I have changed the document size to an A3 size, but the document itself is too big for an A3 size. I have also change the DPI to 300. To overcome the problem of my document being too big, I will have to crop the image down to the right size.

In the print screen above, you can see that I have set the constraints to the size of an A3 print. This will guide me so I can position the image to how I want it. 

Completed order of prints

After figuring out were to put what prints, I have finally decided on the order they will be put in my portfolio. Below are the images in order:

I knew that I was always going to use the first image as the one to open with as I feel this image draws the viewer into my portfolio. I made sure that the different types of photos were spread out throughout the portfolio, especially all the music images. I also made sure that all the portrait images were together so there wouldn't be too much flipping around when I am presenting the images. I wanted to finish on the last image as I see this quite a peaceful and strong image to end on.  

Choosing my portfolio images

So far I only have 5 images for my portfolio, the minimum is 6 but I would like to do more than 6 just to show off a range of skills. Me and Karin agreed that there would be two natural lit images, 3 studio images and 2 event photos. To get the event photos I signed up to photograph a band night i a local pub, I came out with some good image but am not sure which ones to pick. The images I have so far are in order, I printed them out and chose this order:

To help me choose two photos from the band shoot that I did, I uploaded them all to facebook and I will look at feedback from the people who look at my page.

This image seemed to be popular and the man in the photo made this photo his profile picture on facebook. I also like this image as there is movement of light and you can see the atmosphere within this image. 

I also really like this image too, this can add contrast to my portfolio as it will be the only black and white image in there:

Applying for a job

The job that I have decided to apply for is the Manchester dogs home application.
Below is how the website tells you to apply for the position:

Below is my completed application, I have left contact information off this version so no spammers can spam the contact details.

Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Homes Volunteer Application Form

Personal Details
Name :  Faye Valentine
Address: Tramways, Frederick Road, Salford				Post Code: M6 6BY
Telephone (Day)			Mobile
Age: 20		Email: flvalentine@hotmail.co.uk

Volunteer Interest

Please tick those areas of volunteering that interest you

Dog Socialiser		Education Assistant		Adoption Follow Up
Donation Monitor		Office Assistant		Doggie PR
Events Assistant		Charity Shop Assistant		Merchandise Stall
Match Maker		Photography	x	Maintenance

Availability – at what times are you available to volunteer?

Flexible		Weekends
Weekdays	x	Mornings
Afternoons		Full Days

How many days/hours per week do you think you could offer?

7

Details of other skills or interests                                                                                                                                                                                            Skilled in photography, also studying photography at a degree level. I have experience in event photography and often photograph my own dog.

Are you aware of any medical condition(s) that may affect your ability to undertake the volunteering activities that you have indicated on the form?

Yes

x

No

If yes, please give details:

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence? (Declaration subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974)

                                                     

Yes

x

No

If you have ticked yes, summarise details on a separate piece of paper.

Having a conviction will not necessarily stop you from volunteering, but will need to be taken into consideration when assessing your suitability.

Emergency Contact
Please provide details of a friend or relative that we could contact in case of an emergency Name :
Address:				Post Code:
Telephone (Day)			Mobile
Age:		Email:

Reference
Please provide details of a colleague who can give you a reference, your referee should be your present or most recent employer. Name :
Address:				Post Code:
Telephone (Day)			Mobile
How do you know them:			Email:

Thank you!

We look forward to receiving your completed application form and will ensure that any information you have provided about yourself will be treated as confidential.

Your details will be kept on our database and we may use the data to keep you up to date with volunteer opportunities and Dogs Home News. Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home may also use your details to advise you of other interests and offers which may be of benefit to canine and animal welfare. Should you prefer not to receive these separate mailings or electronic communication please tick this box.

Signature: _______________________________________________     Date: ___15__/__2___/___15__

I am going to send this application to the email address stated on the instructions, I will also attach my CV and cover letter.

Below is a print screen of the email which I have sent: